I have been coming to Sylva since 1970, and to be completely honest, I have never found a single restaurant here that I fell in love with or felt was worthy of a return visit--until now. Don't let the outside fool you; the exterior is deceiving and doesn't draw you in, but once you step inside, El Patron is absolutely amazing and incredibly clean. The food is the real star. I had the fried burrito, which was perfectly crisp and flavorful, smothered in cheese and mole and my husband ordered the Texas Steak. The chips were warm, fresh, and their incredible salsa bar is a massive bonus with so many great authentic flavors. I can't believe I haven't been here before today. After decades of searching for a go-to spot in town, we've finally found it. We will absolutely be back! read more

El Patron Mexican restaurant - Fried Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Sylva, North Carolina

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The food is always good here. It's a nice rustic, comfortable restaurant. I love that they have a salsa bar - they have a super hot habanero one and really good long hots with onions. I got a chicken burrito combo. It comes with rice and refried beans. Very good and reasonably priced at $10.75. read more

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Dropped in for lunch and we were immediately seated. The waitress dropped off a bowl of salsa and a basket of chips. We chose meals from the lunch menu that were served fairly quickly. Everything was delicious and authentic tasting. The restaurant was fairly quiet and clean. We will definitely be making this our regular Mexican restaurant. read more

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I was extremely surprised and happy to have a nice meal at El Patron. The restaurant is very big and I thought that it was going to be generic and impersonal, but on the contrary, it was very good. We ordered a chimichanga with fajita veggies, and some green sauce enchiladas. The cheese and veggies on the chimichanga were amazing, and although the chimichanga was not crunchy, it was still delicious. So were the enchiladas. I would be a repeat customer here. read more

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We were looking for a good Mexican restaurant and ended up finding a great one. I had the vegetarian taco salad and it was amazing, like a pot pie. The prices on all items were very reasonable and a very wide selection of items on the menu. The service was very quick and the meals were ready in a very short time. This is one of those restaurants it's busy because the food, prices and service is amazing. read more

I do not like Mexican food, when people ask if I wanna go get queso and margs my answer is almost always no but El Patron is delicious! Huge portions that don't break the bank. I ordered the quesadillas chicken supreme, I was stuffed with chicken and cheese. The side of rice was also delicious! The staff were very nice and our food came out incredibly fast. I would absolutely go back! read more

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As good as most SoCal Mexican restaurants! Service was great too. .............................................. X read more

We enjoy this establishment however, DOUBLE CHECK YOUR BILL!!!! We were charged full price ($11.25) for our daily special Octopus Margaritas ($8.99). What made it worth posting this review was the way it was handled by the employees, including the manager. As if we were a bother. Not a way to treat folks who frequently come to your restaurant. Attitude is everything, even if mistakes happen. Was not the case here. read more

El Patron Mexican restaurant - Drink special menu - Mexican Near Me - Sylva, North Carolina

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We enjoy this restaurant in Sylva. Their food was good! A popular place here. Workers were nice!

Very good food and friendly servers. I loved the fajitas. My friend got the flour tortilla cheese nachos and they looked great. the inside is very nicely decorated and spacious. there is good music playing and the price will probably be about $20 for a good meal read more

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We stopped kn here while visiting our student at WCU and glad we finally did!! They are always busy and now I know why! Food and drinks are delicious and ambiance is spot on. Huge dining area with plenty of seating but not crowded. Chips and salsa brought to table right away, waitress took our drink order soon after as was there to take out food order as soon as we decided what to get!! Food came quickly and was delicious! Margaritas were fantastic! We will definitely be back here when in Sylva. read more

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Giovanni was a great waiter. Always attentive. The food was delicious. I included photos of what we ordered, and I highly recommend! read more

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Great food and excellent service. They've got a pretty good variety with their menu and I've never been disappointed. Burritos are the best

Great service. Excellent margaritas and my favorite the Burrito Jose! So many tasty choices! read more

El Patron Mexican restaurant - Burrito Jose - Mexican Near Me - Sylva, North Carolina

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What a disappointment. When I first walked in I was seated and noticed they had a salsa bar, server yourself, and I thought, "That's kinda nice!" After I was seated, my server (really nice guy) brought out the house salsa and chips and on first glance it looked okay, obviously fresh blended, raw onion and cilantro chiffonade, all that jazz, but when I tasted it, I drew a blank. Totally unseasoned, not a pinch of salt, nothing to open the palate. So, I decided, "Hey, while I'm waiting on my order, I'll try that Salsa Bar, maybe it'll be better." Nope. If one theme runs rampantly through this restaurant, it is the fact that nothing, literally nothing I ate, had any seasoning whatsoever. I do not expect the average person to understand that salt is required in order to open the human palate. Not all of us attended three culinary schools. But what I do expect is that someone in management, an owner, anyone, to understand that bland food kills restaurants. Period. Not all of us humans eschew all seasonings in favor of cardboard health food. I ordered a Number 10, which was supposed to be a fajita dish, mixed beef, chicken, and shrimp. It was served as follows: The server brought out the foil pack of 3 flour tortillas and a lunchroom plate of congealed, obviously previously refrigerated refried beans which had clearly been microwaved, and which had then had some lettuce, guac, and a splash of pico tossed onto it. The main thang was delivered on a cast iron griddle that had apparently been subjected to some sort of nuclear reactor incident, and upon which was served some of the most dried out, burned up, and inedible pieces of cow and poultry flesh I've ever seen. But get this: The shrimp were piping hot and still succulent! (Meaning: They were tossed in from-frozen). I knew the dish was inedible, but being me, I tried it. And here we go again: Not even a GRAIN of salt, no pepper, no nothing. Bland as un-chlorinated tap water. This is not Mexican food. I've traveled to quite a few places in Mexico. The people there are warm, friendly, inviting, and charitable, and they'll feed you outstanding real Mexican food right off their grills in their yards, and that's true Mexican. This place, however, is some Americanized version of Taco Bell, but without any seasonings, no salt, no anything. Positives: This would be the ULTIMATE place for anyone whose diet is restricted by their physician and who has been told that they have to eat totally tasteless and bland food lest they upset their ulcerated colons, or whatever. What a disappointment. I did tip the server, though. He was friendly and helpful, so much so that I didn't complain, didn't ask for anything to be replaced or anything, I just wanted to get out of there. Don't go. Madre de Dios, don't go! Go scrape up some roadkill and put some ketchup on it instead. read more

I don't recommend going here. The ambience and seating were both pretty nice. I liked the salsa bar idea even though the salsas at the bar were significantly worse than the salsa that comes out by default with the tortilla chips. Food was pretty unremarkable, arguably bad. The only reason I say it wasn't bad was because it was alright after I heavily salted everything which was served to me. This is the first Mexican restaurant I've been to where nothing was seasoned. Literally nothing. It was very hot inside of the restaurant which made me uncomfortable. The part that really bothers me was that the service was meh at best, there's a completely unmentioned surcharge for using card (only mentioned on the receipt), and when I went to pay I had to bring my receipt to the front where they outright asked me what I wanted to tip instead of just referencing the receipt. Not sure why they did that but it really rubbed me the wrong way because they were clearly trying to nudge me to tip higher (I was already tipping enough.) read more

One of the best authentic Mexican food I have ever had. The service and ambiance was amazing.

Stopped in here for lunch with my husband and daughter. Busy before 11:30! We were seated quickly and brought chips and salsa. I was craving a soda but when I saw they were $3.99 so I went with water. The salsa they brought to the table was absolutely delicious. However, I was thrilled that they also had a salsa bar with multiple salsas and roasted jalapeños. Every one I tried was good but the one they brought to the table was my favorite. I ordered a new item on the lunch menu -- Huevos Ahogadas. It was scrambled or fried eggs in your choice of verde or Roja sauce. I chose scrambled and roja with beans for my side. It was good but not as good as huevos rancheros. Daughter ordered a vegetarian combo she loved and husband got a lunch combo he liked. Food came out quickly but no one ever checked on us again until we waved them down for more water. I ate dinner here a year or so and enjoyed my meal more. Overall a solid Mexican food spot. read more

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First things first. Jasmine our server was over the top efficient. She went above and beyond to make our party of 4 special. The music was a bit loud for our group and they immediately lower it. The drinks were over the top good. The guacamole & salsa fresh & tasty. The quesadilla pizza with grilled chicken so good. The same with my chicken fajita. Everything tasted so good. Plenty of parking. Bathrooms clean. We will be back when in the area! read more

Can we agree that the Mexican food in the mountains is always good?! This huge restaurant was so yummy. It's more Tex-Mex than full-on Mexican, but I'm not complaining. The Flautas came with beef and chicken - both were very well prepared. We also tried the Fajitas with chorizo and chicken - yummy, yum, mmmm. The margaritas are good and robust. The restaurant is huge with lots of seating. There is a small covered patio area. The service was fast and friendly. We'd come back on our next time through town. read more

El Patron Mexican restaurant - El Patron Loco margarita - Mexican Near Me - Sylva, North Carolina

Took a trip to the mountains visiting prominent universities for our son. So hesitant to try this place. I was not wrong. The food was horrible! Chips were stale, salsa was bland. My husband and I ordered the poblano ( not ever did have the canned white cheese in my poblano chile) every thing we had was very poor quality. The tortillas, chips, salsa, rice,beans and even the guacamole. The guacamole was dark brown. The poblanos were fried in old oil. You could see it and taste it. Don't be fooled! This place is not good. Fortunately for this establishment there is no competition in the area. We ended up going to a taco truck near by and absolutely had the best taco's there. Once we got the check we noticed two surcharges. They charge you for using a card. SMH plus another surcharge. $6 dollars extra ? For what. This establishment is lucky it's the only one out there, but don't be fooled by the reviews. This place has horrible food. I did notice on the counter ( we sat at the back to the right of the bar ) a can spray of fabreez and some kind of bug spray. I should have walked out when I saw that that. read more

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Came to El Patron for my first time on Cinco De Mayo so let's just say I knew what were were getting into. We called for a table around 5 and were told it would be about 30 minutes. Once there we checked in. It felt like we waited more then 30 minutes more like 45 but I get it, it's Cinco and people stay at there tables longer then normal. Once seated our waiter quickly brought us out chips and salsa. We then asked if they had any specials and of course they had a bunch of drink specials. Makes since why it took a little longer for people to leave their tables. Once our drinks came we were already out of chips and salsa but our waiter almost immediately got us more. For my entrée I normally always get some kind of burrito but I changed it up... well just barely. I went with the Chimichanga Fajita with steak and am so glad I did. It was easily the best Chimichanga I have ever had. That fact that it was covered in queso made it even better. Will for sure be keeping El Patron and my go to for Mexican in Sylva. read more

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Great lunch place to sit and warm up. Chips and salsa are amazing. Had chicken fajitas and the tortillas are handmade and great.

Was hoping this would be a decent commercial style Mexican place but my wife and I were extremely disappointed. We had been to the original El Patron and it was fine but .... the new one, not so much. We had enchiladas, shrimp wraps, chips, salsa, guac, and drinks. All was way below average, almost no flavor at all. read more

While in Sylva visiting, my friends and I stopped at El patron (twice) because of the friendly, quick service and great prices on food and drinks. For the table, the house salsa is fresh and very tasty. I also ordered the large queso and this is a huge bowl! I ordered the chicken, cheese, and rice with flour tortillas both times, and it was delicious. It did take a while to get the mixed drinks since they came out with the food for dinner. Very good prices on the menu and daily drink specials. Highly recommend El Patron if you are in the area. read more

El Patron Mexican restaurant - menu - Mexican Near Me - Sylva, North Carolina

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Quick service from friendly people, really fresh ingredients, especially the vegetables, we both had fajitas. Everything hot and nothing burned like is commonly experienced with fajitas. They accommodated slight salad changes due to being gluten-free etc., with ease. No problem at all. Came for a Sunday dinner at 6 PM. read more

We were staying in the area and frankly had a lot of BBQ, as one is supposed to in this area. I looked at the crew and said "I could legit fall in love with some good tacos right now" and off they went to scour the area for tacos. I had one requirement... as I do with my completely biased and unprofessional taco eating (ok... I'm semi-pro) Mexican establishment choosing... the menu must have like 500 items made up of the same 10-15 ingredients to be legit. DANG!!! Their menu was like a thousand items. I immediately turn the truck around and headed there. The reviews were good. The menu was massive. I was looking forward to this. We called in an order and took it to the river park a few miles down the road. I sat watching pasty people in inner tubes floating by as I stuffed those delicious tacos in my mouth. Their habenero salsa was solid. Everyone else loved their food, too. I can't actually remember what they got, but I know they loved it. If you're hanging out in the Sylva area, you need this in your life. The prices were great. The service was great. The food was great. GET IT! read more

the quesadillas were incredible, but there was so much tomato in the pico that I gagged. would definitely go again, the service and ambience was great and the rest of my family was very happy with their meals. read more

Absolutely great hostesses, food, and ambiance. Can't believe the servings!!! HUGE. The food is tasty and plenty. Don't know how they keep their quality of service and food with such turnout. The waiting room is comfortable and smiles abound. Muchas gracias!! read more

Excellent atmosphere! Excellent food! Excellent frozen margaritas! Excellent service! Fair prices. We will return soon. read more

Great food and great service. They always remember us. Conveniently located. We love the fajitas read more

Burrito Especial and shrimp tacos were great. Good food, good and quick service, nice decor and full bar. I will definitely come back.

Mexican in the mountains is hit and miss. Guyabitos? No bueno. Puerto Vallarta? Gracias, no. But El Patron is fantastic. Chips are basic, but the salsa bar makes it great. I had Jalisco tacos, which were amazing. Tender steak and ground chorizo. Son had fajitas rancheros, also very good with ground chorizo. Hubs had a combo plate. The tamale was excellent. The chicken in the enchilada was well seasoned with peppers and onions, a welcome change for typical boiled flavorless shredded chicken. The star at this restaurant though is the Mexican rice. Authentically done, you can tell they toast the rice before cooking. It doesn't just come out of a box. The margaritas were very good as well. read more

It's a great place. Service is friendly and efficient. Food is great and in generous portions. Decor is nice too.

Great food!! Pina Loco (I think it was called) was amazing. My husband had the chorizo tacos - best chorizo we've ever had! Margarita was ok, tasted like it was mostly mixer. The restaurant looked clean and staff was friendly. read more

El Patron Mexican restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Sylva, North Carolina

Used to love this place. Tonight was not good. Took forever to get waited on and had to ask for chips. Only half our fajitas meal came out with our food. Waitress only came by when we were done so she could drop off ticket. Salsa is still great but won't be going back any time soon. read more

Food is not good. Service is even worse! "Steak" is about a 1/16" thick? And 50% fat. Saw our server 2 times. Had to ask for refills multiple times. Had to beg for chips and salsa... absolutely horrible and I won't be back. read more

There's a reason why the ratings are so high for this place! We've only just had the chips so far but the salsa bar has been amazing, the staff has been great, and the vibe of the restaurant is really nice, it's huge and they definitely cater to families but I'd recommend it to anyone! read more

This is the best Mexican restaurant in this area. Their portion sizes are huge. If you're interested in a foo foo drink , their margaritas are fantastic. Everyone that is employed there is very pleasant. If you're ever in downtown, by the fire station,go up just a few minutes longer it is located on the right hand side of the road. Relax and enjoy! read more

Food is consistently good here! However, ever since they have moved locations the prices have gone up quite a bit! Love the environment and I normally always get great service! read more